On December 27, 2020, our friend, colleague, and professor Robert Kruckeberg passed away after a brief illness. From the time of his diagnosis until his passing, he got married, became a father, and took care of his family, even as they took care of him.
I recently (January 2025) reached out to Dr. Kruckeberg because I missed him and wanted to begin a dialogue with him about things I thought he would find interesting. I didn't know about his passing and I felt profound grief for him and shame for not knowing. I just wanted to share with you a few things about him that made me excited for class with him.
I was a STEM major, and Dr. Kruckeberg was my western civ 1 and 2 teacher. Over the course of conversation in class, he found out I was Catholic and I became the first hand authority about anything regarding the Catholic faith, even though I reiterated each time that I was a bad Catholic and not worthy of being the authority. As you can imagine, Catholicism came up frequently in a western civ class. He thought I was being modest and would still ask me what I thought about certain moments in European history involving Catholicism. It made me feel important and kept me engaged, and a lot of the time the class would laugh at our back and forth. Beyond that, he made me feel like he valued my opinion- he would frequently ask my thoughts on a wide range of topics during lecture including science and current events. At one point he asked me to explain general relativity (I was a freshman and completely ignorant on the subject) and I said I don't know, something about Einstein and e=mc^2 and he gave me a little chuckle and politely moved on without embarrassing me. As my education and career have progressed, this moment pops into my head more than I'd like to admit, but he was learned enough to know I had no idea what I was talking about and polite enough to not embarrass me in front of my peers. This instance is what I emailed him about recently, to thank him for not embarrassing me and to acknowledge that I had no idea what I was talking about. I wanted to tell him that I am knowledgeable enough to explain general relativity to him now if he was willing to give me a "do-over". I thought he would get a kick out of it. I wish we could have that conversation.
Anyways, I find myself in a state of profound grief and shame at finding out about his passing. He was a great teacher. I hated every other non STEM class I took because it felt like a waste of my time and money, but not his class. What he taught me was how to analyze things I read, how to understand the motivations behind people's actions and behavior, and how to transform a lot of information into a clean narrative. These skills have transcended simple history class and are skills I use every day.
I am profoundly sad that he passed. My child was born while I was in his class. He was the first professor I told. He helped me navigate the anxieties and doubt of those first few weeks and showed me that I am a capable and competent person and alleviated my fears and anxieties. I wish I could thank him. He was a great man and my favorite professor even as a STEM student.
Joshua O'Daniel | STEM, 2023
I only took one class with Kruck but that was enough to collect stories I'll probably tell forever. I took history of western thought a couple of years ago. I remember the debate I went through during registration: my two choices were bioethics...at a time like 2 PM, or western thought with Kruck at 8:30 AM. I am, as you probably know, a confirmed night owl and so wasn't eager for the early start, but it was that or discuss organs...so there I was.
I got up at 7:30 AM every Tuesday and Thursday for months to discuss the dry, often nonsensical writings of dead white male philosophers, and the only reason it was all worth it was Kruck. That experience was one of the big clues that I needed to change my major; there was one particular day early in the semester when I woke up to the noxious tones of my alarm and thought, "God, I just don't want to get up. This bed is way too soft and warm. I know it's cold outside too." But then I thought, "well, I did really want to discuss that Francis Bacon reading." And so I did.
TROY Student | History, 2020
B.A., University of North Texas, 1999
Ph.D., University of Michigan, 2009
Old Regime France, Eighteenth-Century Europe, the Enlightenment, French Revolution, and the Atlantic World
Robert Kruckeberg was Associate Professor of History at TROY University and received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2009. He came to Troy in the fall of 2012, and remained a dedicated colleague, professor, and friend until his passing at the end of 2020. Before coming to TROY , he taught at the University of Mississippi, Alfred University, and Kalamazoo College. He was working on a book manuscript titled The Wheel of Fortune in Eighteenth-Century France: The Lottery, Economic Change, and Political Transformation. This project examined the development of lotteries in France during the eighteenth century from small charitable lotteries to the largest state run lottery Europe had ever known in the Royal Lottery. The project used the lotteries to examine the intersection between political and economic transformation that preceded the French Revolution in 1789 and continued on during the Revolution itself. More broadly, he was interested in the rise of modern financial capitalism and its connection with the rise of modern political culture.
Western Civilization I and II
French Revolution and Napoleon
Early Modern France
Age of Absolutism
Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment
The Caribbean
Modern European Intellectual and Cultural History
Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe
Kruck's irreverent teaching style meant that I felt completely comfortable walking into the class and starting the discussion with "what the hell was that??" He was always ready and willing to talk about how downright weird the reading was. Our discussion experience was supplemented by lectures, which also included just how weird the authors were. My friends and I could be ourselves with him, engaging with the class in the way we did best: by saying stupid stuff. Other teachers did not always appreciate this approach, but it was Kruck's modus operandi as far as I know.
TROY Student | History, 2020